Injection molding device



R. H. HAGEN INJECTION MOLDING DEVICE Filed Nov. 21, 1945 R 3 an on mv H. HAGEN MK? ORNEYS PN 0N WM kvomm INVENTOR TOM om ROGER July 11, 1950 Patented July 11, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT QFJFlCE mesne assignments, to Blymouth Industrial Products, Inc., -Pl-ymouth,-Wis;, a corporation of Wisconsin- Application November-21, 1945., Serial No. 630,083 .4 Claims; (01; 18-40) The present invention relates to anew app fetus {or molding thermo-plastic material.

Heretofore, it has been the practice in inolding thermo-plastic material; to insert a; measured amount of dry, granulated material into a 0371-- indenthen heating the'materialto its fusion'temperature and ejecting itfrom the cylinder into a mold. This process is relatively slow because thermo-plasticmaterial-is a poor heat conductor and it requires considerable B. t. u.s for fusion thereof. Also, the amount of material that can be molded in one operation is limited, due to the ini practicability of iusinga relatively large mass in the ejection cylinder.-

An object of the presentinvention therefore; is' to provide-an apparatus for moldingthermoplastic material ina much more rapid and em-- cient manner than heretofore. In carrying out the invention, I propose to preheat a relatively large mass of thermo-pl-astic material to its fused and flowing state prior to its introduction into thee'jeotion chamber andto feed material from mass into the ejectionchamberso that a predetermined, measured charge of the plastic material for each molding operation may be had and-a relatively large charge of material may be rapidly molded with a minimum of heat expen'cliture.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide an apparatus for molding thermo-plastic material in which material in afluidcondition is fed into an ejection cylinder, the outlet of the cylinder being closed by a valve during" the charging of the cylinder and which 'valve is retained closeduntil after the inlet or the cylinder is closed; whereby a measured charge "is obtained inthe cylinder. 1

' Aostill further object of the invention is to pro-' vide a,- molding apparatus in which-the ejectionnozzle of the apparatus is closed by avalve-dun ing charging of the ejection cylinder to prevent leakage of fluid material from the nozzle prior to the molding operation.

--A still further object ofthe invention'is to provide a member for clearing the nozzleof the ejecting device of hardened material prior to eachmolcling operation, which member is preferably actuated by the ramthat ejects the plastic materialirom the .ej ection cylinder;

Other objects-andadvantages of the invention will be apparent from the rollowing description of .a preferredembodi-mentof the invention, reference being vhad to the accompanying drawings wherein: a

Fig.1 is a view, partly vin section of "an apps jacket 2l surrounding ratus sfo'r e ecting thermo-plastic material into a mold;

Fig. 12 is a view takenon line i2-2 of Fig, 1, butona larger scale; and

Fig. .3 is azview showing the ejection mechanism shown in Fig'. 1, but certain parts thereof are in: difierentvpositions;

Referring :to the drawingail have shown an apparatus 'forlmolding nthermo+p1astimaterialin accordance with the invention. The apparatus. comprises in general :a cylindrical ejector chamher which includesan inlet one side thereof through which thezthermo-plastic material. is received in .afluidriorm, and a :ram is provided in the chamber for .forcing this material through an outletzat one end of .the chamber and through a nozzle into azmold. The 'thermo-plasti ma terial ipriorstonbeing red tothe chamber, is stored 11131101311613, thenwallsof which hopper are maintained heated so" that-lthegthermo-plastic material will enter the ejector chamber in a fluid condi-. tion. Oneoflthe features of the inventionis the provision :of a valve associated .with the ejector ram-whereby theoutletof the chambenisretained closed until the inlet of the :chamber .is closed off by theram. This provides a definitely meas-: ured charge of v.tlhermoplastic material for each molding strokeofxthe ram.

7 Another feature of the apparatus is-tha't prior toactu'al ejection of material from the chamber,

the force of .the ramis utilized to clear the nozzle outlet of hardened thermo-plastic mate rial;

Referring-now more particularly to the-drawings, the apparatus. includes an:- ejector, indicatedgenerally at); The ejector-comprises a chambier lrl :formed by a tubular sleeve 1-2 that is fitted .ivithin a second :sleeve t3, .the metal of sleeve zzheing 0fa'type particularly suitable for bearing :thereciprocationof aram therein andto withstand pressure. third sleeve 1-4 surrounds the sleeves :I'2 and I3 and is spaced therefrom byendtinss 1:5: .The sleeves 1 land each have an :aligned opening 16" therein which form an inlet in the side-oi the chamber H. A tube-ll is connected with the openingl-G and extends through an opening in the sleeve M upwardly to a hopper, indicated generally at 20. The sleeve I4 surrounding the sleeves l2 and l 3 forms a the latter sleeves, and hot oil is" adapted to -be circulatedthrough the jacket 2| b y inlet 'and'outletpipes 22 and 23-, respem tiv'l'yi The sou'rceof hot oil isnot shown, but any suitahle on heating'uevicemay be employed which maintains the-temperature ofthe oilat'that 3 required in the chamber I I to maintain fluidity of the thermo-plastic material to be fed to the chamber. This temperature maybe 400 F., for example.

An outlet member 26 is securely bolted over the end of the sleeve I2 by bolts 27, and the member 26 has a bore 28 .which forms a restricted outlet from the chamber II.L. Preferably, the walls of the member 26 leading to the right-hand end of the bore 28 are tapered as shown at 29:

the bore.

Preferably, a perforated disk-l-32-zispress.fitted 16 for facilitating the feeding of the material to Preferably, a cylindrical rim 58 is welded to the 4 similarly welded to the ring 5| and in alignment with the tubular member 49 is disposed beneath the member 49 and is surrounded by a similarly shaped member 54. The members 53 and 54 engage one another at the restricted ends thereof and are welded together at that point to form a liquidseal, The lowerrendof member 54 is welded to .a vcollar 55. Thus, two jackets 55 and 51 are formed about the inner container formed zby. the members 49 and 53, which jackets are adapted to receive hot oil, as will be described.

H ring 30,. which rim is in alignment with the in the end of member 25, whichxdisk has ia'plurality of openings 33 formed the'rein and .a-cen-= tral opening 34, the purpose of which openings will appear hereinafter.

A tubular nozzle member 36 is bolted over the left-hand end of member 26, and the outerend of the tubular memberY'SS is under cut for receiving a nozzle 31. "Theno'zzl el is adapted to connect the tubular member 36 with a;particular mold, not shown, and other nozzlessim'ilar to nozzle 31, but adapted .to;cooperate. with different types of molds, may be readily. substituted for the nozzle 37.. .A sleeve'rlikeaheating element 35 surrounds the member 36-f0r: maintaining the temperature within the vsleeveca-t approximately the temperature inside chamber-II. The-heating element is shownto-comprise an electrical resistance Wirev 38 iembeddedin .a .ceramic .material 39, although any otherasuitable heating means could be employed, if desired; 1. H.

A ram-.40 is adapted: toreciprocate in the chamber .II, :and the ram closely fits into the sleeve I2 so that the fluid thermo-plastic materialwill not enter between' the ram and the sleeve. The ram .40 maybe reciprocated'byany suitable mechanism, not shown, and it may-comprise an. hydraulically operated piston; A valve rod 4| is connected-to the end .ofthe ramwin any suitable manner, I such as 1 by threading the end of the rod into the ram, and the opposite end of the rod 4I- has.an enlarged.cylindrical valve member 42 :formedthereon. The-=rod-4I= extends through andis supported inoentrar opening 34 of the disk 32 andthe valve member- 42 is adapted to slide in'the-bore 28-. The valve member 42 is adapted .to-completely 'closei the bore 28 to prevent-.escapeof thermo-plastic ma terial, therethrough as will behmore fully. described hereinafter.: Preferably the end of. the valve member adjacent the rod 4| is taperedas at 43 so that the valvewill be guided into the bore 28 when the .ramgis. moved iromthe position showmin Fig. 3 t .the. position shownin Fig.4.,- It is to benotedthat theldimensions of the rod 4I, valve member 42 and bore-28 aresuch that whenthe end oftheramAflis, out Ofalignment: with theinlet openingzJfi to thechamberll so that material maybe fed tothe chamber-,hthe valve member 42 closes .the outlet bore 28 and the valve will maintain the bore 28 closed duringthe time the end of the -ram,.40 moves across, the. opening I and willcause opening of the bore 28. just as the ram closes ed ;the inlet opening I6. The purpose ofthiserrangementwm appear; hereinafter. 1, 1

Referring now -,to thehopper- 20,;thehopper isformed of an inner cylindrical membelf. 52 Welded at the top to anannular ring 50 an d weldediat. the bottom to a similar, ring 51 to form aliquid Seal h vee c e-cylinder s2 si lar Welded rings; end, ,.-.-.,Ani mYQl'EiQIiCQ Q-W having.- the larger. endthereot:

sh ped emberfia;

upper. edges of the cylindrical member 49.

Preferably the-hopper Zil is adapted to hold one-half-tonof thermo-plastic material, for example, and it may be located above the ejector Ill in the floor of the building above the floor on which the ejector is located. In order to maintain the thermo-plastic material in a heated condition, l preier to-providea iacketedtube 30 for interconnecting the outletof thehopper withthe inlet tube I'I. Thetube is weldedat theopposite ends to -colla1's ;6I and ,62 and. is located concentrically within a tube 63 which is, likewise weldedto the; collars BI and I52. The collar 3i is bolted to collar and:collar .,fi;2 is ,bolted to 0 64 whi h; We de t t e. ta -7 t e .1-. Hot 11 i cir ulatedbetw n. hei'tu esfifl and 63 by pipe 23, being connected in; anopeningin. the lower partof-tube 63, andagpipefifi con nected h, the interim- O i bQfiB ad ac nt t the top thereof, Wh sk; i efiitl ads c heh ower portion of the hoppeu ZIl;and-isconnected in an op n e nth c member'fit... The e .1 t e-beep? zflrandthe. i ter-1 a e. e d n ube fill. a e mai ta ned. h a by 1 nefr m th ioil su ply t rou h pipe .2... u h j ck t. ,0 t; .pe 23am. mm. the, i c e s rr unding Metubdfifll h u h pipe 66. in ermed at th .CQnicaL me bers 53. and 1. thr ue p s 5 to thei e twee members 49 and ,53 and thence ,irom the latter .jacket. throughapipe 59',to the oi lheater. I. In orderto insure feedingoi the thermoplastic, material to they chamber I I, air underv pressure, of approximately l00lbs. per square inch is rnaina tained over the material in the hopper,, ,This is; accomplished byprovidingalid 65 that is hinged on a pin fidjournalled in, a yoke lug B] :fOrmed, on the hopper. Agasket 68 is interposed between the lidand thetop edge of the hopper. screwe. down bolts 59 extend through openings :near the pe iph ry o th d. and, a e: h aded i to see curin l s- 10. .fcrmed o the. hopper for. clamp-. the lid to the hopper. Preferably,;thei1id-;is: counterweighted as at H. An air inlet .tubeg'IZ: x e through, an; opening through the lidsand the edges of the tubearehermetically sealed-with thewalls oi the opening. Thetubellis con-c nectcd, Witha suitable ,s0ur9e of; air under; pres-i sureby a flexible tube, not shown;..,li desireda. safety valve I3 may be provided;;:,;- 1.5;! 5,!

. In 1 practicing the invention; I; prefer; .to com... pound the thermo plastic material, .oneyform: of ,1 which may; include ground; asbestos and; a: bitu-,- minous or rike substance :and. Whichisireely fiowablc at a temperature-oi 4001F., and toplacethe compound material intotheehopperiflibetore the material has cooled .iromthe compounding temperature to below the: boiling; point of water. so that there, is no. necessityaof: *reheating; the material after it has. beencompounded'in order. to expel moisture therefrom and to mold-the same, A half. :ton or;more"of; this'mate'rialgnfdr example, .may be placed in; theghopper' '20 at \one time. The ram. is moved to -the right-hand position, shown in- Fig. 1 andv the thermo-setting material will flow into the chamber ll through opening l6. Preferably, the air pressure in the hopper is 100 pounds per square inch. The valve member 42 will be in theposition for closing bore 28 so that the liquified thermo-plastic material will not escape from the chamber H. When the available space in the chamber II is filled with thermo-plastic material the ram 4i) is actuated toward the left and the inlet opening it to chamber I I will be closed by the ram, and at the instant the :inlet is closed valve member 42 opens the bore 28 and the material within the chamber M will be ejected through theb ore 28 and into the nozzle member-36, from whence it passes from the nozzle 3? and intoa suitable mold, not shown. It will be noted that the thermo-plastic material passes through the openings '33 in the disk 32 and that the openings' 33 are preferably approximately the same size or smaller than the diameter of the opening through the nozzle 31 so that any fibrous constituents of the thermo-plastic material 'forming a nodule which might plug'up the nozzle 31 is caught in one of the openings 33. Thus the disk 33 serves as a screen, and when it becomes clogged the member 26 may be easily removed and the disk 32 cleaned of the clogging material and replaced. As the ram 40 moves from left to right, or from the position shown in Fig. 3 to the position shown in Fig. 1, valve member 42 closes bore 28 just as the ram 40 commences to open the inlet it to the chamber ll. Thermo-plastic material then rushes in to fill chamber H and valve 42 effectively prevents the escape of any thermo-plastic material into the nozzle 36, thereby preventing the thermo-plastic material from flowing through nozzle 3'! prematurely.

During substantially each molding operation, a sprue solidifies in the end of the nozzle 37. With certain types of thermo-plastic material the tensile strength is relatively low and the sprue breaks in the nozzle when the mold is separated from the nozzle. The sprue formed in nozzle 31 seals the latter and on the initial movement of the ram 40 of the next molding operation, the valve member acts as a ram and transmits pressure through the fluid thermo-plastic in the member 36 to force the sprue from the nozzle. Since the opening I6 is not closed during the initial movement of the ram 403 a relatively small amount of pressure will be present against the ram from the thermo-plastic material in the chamber II as the material may escape upwardly into the pipe I 1 so that practically the entire force on the ram is available for clearing the nozzle 31 prior to each ejection operation.

By my invention there is a substantial saving by eliminating the reheating of the thermo-plastic material in the ejecting apparatus, and by feeding the thermo-plastic material to the ejecting apparatus in a fluid condition a much larger amount of material may be ejected during one operating cycle. For example, as much as three pounds of material may be ejected during each ejecting operation. By providing the valve arrangement 42, a measured amount of the molding material may be charged into the ejecting chamber H and, also, the sprues formed in the nozzle are quickly and efficiently removed.

Although I have discovered but one form of the invention it is to be understood that other forms may be adopted, all falling withinrtheiscopeqof the claims which follow.

I claim: I

An injection ,mold apparatus .'';comprising; means forming a chamber forreceiving; molding material; an el'ongatednozzle structure associated with the chamber and connected at one. end with the latter through a passageway; aram reciprocable :in. said chamber ifor forcing the molding material from the chamber and into the nozzle structure through the passageway; a rod rigidly connected with the ram and vextendable freely through the passageway when the ram is reciprocated; and a piston member carried on the rod and being arranged to be drawn within the passageway when the ram is at the end of its intake stroke and tobe moved into the nozzlestructure when, the ram is moved in its ejection stroke, the diameter-of said piston being the same as that of the-passageway and substantially less than the diameter of the interior of the ,nozzle structure whereby the passageway maybe closed by the piston when the latter is in the passageway and material may how about the piston when the latter is in said nozzle structure. v

2. An injection mold apparatus comprising, means forming a chamber for receiving molding material; an elongated nozzle structure associated with the chamber and connected at one end with the latter through a cylindrical passageway; a ram reciprocable in said chamber for forcing the molding material from the chamber and into the nozzle structure through the passageway; a rod rigidly attached to the ram and extendable freely through the passageway; and a piston type valve member rigidly attached to the rod and being arranged to be drawn within the passageway when the ram is at the end of its intake stroke and to be moved into the nozzle structure when the ram is moved in its ejection stroke, the diameter of said valve member being the same as that of the passageway and substantially less than the diameter of the interior of the nozzle structure whereby the passageway may be closed by the valve member when the latter is in the passageway and material may flow about the valve member when the latter is in said nozzle structure.

3. An injection mold apparatus comprising, means forming a chamber for receiving molding material; an elongated nozzle structure associated with the chamber and connected at one end with the latter through a relatively extended cylindrical passageway, said nozzle structure having a restricted outlet; a ram reciprocable in said chamber for forcing the molding material from the chamber and into the nozzle structure through the passageway; a rod rigidly connected with the ram and. extendable freely through the passageway; and a piston member carried by the rod and being arranged to be drawn within the passageway when the ram is at the end of its intake stroke and to be moved into the nozzle structure when the ram is moved in its ejection stroke, the diameter of said piston being the same as that of the passageway and substantially less than the diameter of the interior of the nozzle structure whereby the passageway may be closed by the piston when the latter is in the passageway and material may flow about the piston when the latter is in said nozzle structure, and said piston member being of such length that it blocks the passageway during an appreciable portion of the ejection stroke for creating a substantial hydraulic force at the restricted outlet of the nozzle 7 structure u'p'on initiation ofthe ejectionastroke f the ram.

4. An injection mold apparatus comprising, means forming a chamber for receiving molding material; an elongated nozzle structureassociated with the chamber and connected at one end with the latter through a passageway; a ram reciprocable in said chamber for forcing the molding material from the chamber and into the nozzle structure through the passageway; a rod rigidly eon'nectedwith the ram and extendable freely through the passageway; a perforated strainer member positioned in the chamber, said member having an opening therethrough in alignment with said passageway and being adapted to receive the rod therethrough and forming a guide for the rod; and a valve member rigidly attached to the rod and being arranged to be drawn within the passageway when the ram is at the end of its intake stroke and to be moved into the nozzle structure when the ram is moved in its ejection stroke, the diameter of said valve member being the same as that of the passageway and substantially less than the diameter of the interior of the nozzle structure whereby the passageway maybe closed by the'valve member when the latter is in-the passageway and material may flow about the valve member when the latter is in said nozzle structure.

ROGER H. HAGEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 698,596 Veeder Apr. 29, 1902 861,431 Brown et a1 June 30, 1907 1,174,049 Brand et a1 Mar. 7, 1916 2,035,801 Gastrow Mar. 31, 1936 2,107,190 Shaw Feb. 1, 1938 2,207,426 Bailey July 9, 1940 2,269,953 Morin et al. Jan. 13, 1942 2,345,917 Coffman Apr. 4, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 284,295 Germany May 19, 1915 

